Klimaatonderzoek Initiatief Nederland

Early in 2026, the UT Climate Centre was selected by the Dutch Climate Research Initiative (KIN) to participate in a one-year KIN Hub Pilot to build transdisciplinary, transition-oriented collaboration for just and sustainable climate transitions in our region. This is undertaken together with four other regional hubs in the Netherlands, representing eight academic institutions, who meet regularly to exchange knowledge and practices. In our KIN Hub Twente, we focus on three research themes considered priorities in our region: water resilience, energy transitions, and climate-proof agriculture. These research communities are contributing to the development and testing of a transition training programme with our science community and regional stakeholders. As part of this, the transition training programme introduces researchers and regional stakeholders to some of the latest developments regarding transdisciplinary approaches for transformative and impactful research and includes core competencies from joint problem definition and visioning to outlining transition pathways. A pilot version of the training module will be implemented and refined based on participant feedback before being rolled out more broadly across the national KIN Hubs by early 2027. At the end of the project, it is expected to share insights and lessons learned during this pilot including approaches and practices that are effective. The KIN is facilitating the learning process and organising knowledge exchanges across the hubs. Results from the pilot will be fed into a future-proof governance and training approach and strengthen the national network of KIN Hubs for climate transitions.